No. 1181998·alternative-metal·4 blocks

Spiders

The hushed, hypnotic ballad from System of a Down's 1998 debut — a rare moment of calm built on a clean, arpeggiated Drop C figure that drifts before the heavy chorus lands. Daron Malakian fingerpicks a custom Ibanez Iceman into a Marshall run nearly clean, the dropped tuning giving the gentle arpeggio an unusually dark, resonant low end. Rick Rubin produced.

System of a Down coverSystem of a Down
Settings for
Signal path · input → output · 7 blocksLive values · Line 6 Helix
Guitar
Ibanez Iceman (custom IC series)
Pickups
HH
Tuning
neck
Strings
drop_c
Deluxe Comp
Brit 2203
4x12 Greenback 25
Hall
Simple Delay
Brit 2203
Deluxe Comp
← Tracking compression
Dynamics
Threshold
-28dB
Ratio
2.5:1
Knee
9dB
Attack
30ms
Release
220ms
Mix
50
Level
0dB
Brit 2203
← Marshall (run nearly clean)
Amp
Drive
3
Bass
6
Mid
6
Treble
6
Presence
5
ChVol
6
Master
5
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
6
Hum
5
Ripple
5
4x12 Greenback 25
← Marshall 4x12 (Celestion-loaded)
Cab
LowCut90Hz
HighCut8500Hz
Resonance
0.5
Level
0dB
Pan
0.5
Delay
0
Hall
← Studio reverb
Reverb
LowCut200Hz
HighCut6500Hz
Mix
28
Decay
2.6s
Predelay
25ms
Level
0
Simple Delay
← Delay
Delay
LowCut200Hz
HighCut5500Hz
Time
420ms
Feedback
22
Mix
18
Level
0
Brit 2203
← Marshall (heavy chorus)
Amp
Drive
7
Bass
6
Mid
7
Treble
7
Presence
6
ChVol
5.5
Master
7
Bias
5
BiasX
5
Sag
5
Hum
5
Ripple
5

What we checked

Computed by a program, on this recipe, every time this page is built. How this works

Preset files — 1 of 3 complete
  • Helix builds complete — every block in the recipe is in the file
  • Quad Cortex 4 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Studio Comp, Brit 2203, 4x12 Greenback, Hall Reverb. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

  • Katana 3 blocks replaced with a stand-in model
    Which ones

    Replaced with a stand-in: Clean, Reverb, Delay. These load cleanly but are not the model named above — the file will sound wrong here until we map them. Set these blocks by hand.

Helix DSP
92.1% of one chip — fits
Sources
3 cited, 2 from publications that do original gear reporting
Attribution
Not yet rated — This recipe predates the attribution-confidence field and hasn't been reviewed for it.
What we didn't check
  • Nobody played this through a real amp. There is no human listening test behind any number on this page.
  • The settings are reasoned from the sources below, not measured off the record.
  • No audio has been rendered for this recipe yet, so you cannot hear it before you load it.
  • 3 platforms on this page (TONEX, Kemper, Fractal) get a model pointer, not a preset file — nothing was built or checked for them.
The mic in this chain

Shure SM57

Still made, still the studio default. The cheapest part of this chain to get right.

Affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The mic is listed because the chain uses it, not because anyone paid for the placement.

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